Previous Next

Finally had a day off when the lake wasn't sporting whitecaps. Checking the lake buoy website showed that the barometer had been and was continuing to rise, suggesting that the fish would be a bit tight lipped for the day. We started out fishing the south side of 520 and even though we marked bait and fish, nothing seemed interested in what we were offering. After our second pass, I changed out my gear and commenced to follow the bottom in 40' to 70' of water. This yielded our two cutts of the day, both taking my mini Apex. The first fish hit at round 70' down and was a big brute of a fish that I estimate to go at least 4lbs, the second fish hit at around 40' and was a more typical 16” -17” sized fish. Of note, this area was holding a massive amount of bait and/or perch, so much so that it completely filled the sonar screen on several occasions. The bite died off and after going for a hour without a strike I switched out my mini Apex for a shrimp fly and baited it with a bit of perch meat. We continued to troll south without any action so we picked up and ran to the north side of Mercer and gave it a go there. I picked up a perch in about 50' of water on my shrimp fly and noted that it had been feeding on stickleback. Shortly after boating the perch, I heard a familiar whistle and spotted an eagle perched nearby. I waved the perch a coupe of times and pitched it behind the boat. I was expecting a bit more time to get the camera out, but the eagle seemed to have no issues swooping in a snatching the perch, so I was only able to capture a single non-zoomed pic of the event. We headed in shortly thereafter without any further fish activity. The surface temps were in the mid 50's and the thermocline had dropped down to the 70' to 80' mark, I suspect that a complete turnover will occur shortly.

salmonbarry

11/4/2012 4:25:00 PM

nice report G-man once again, you are the Lake WA master! Beautiful fish! I plan on making this my go to lake next year and learn more how to fish it! thanks for all your reports on it.

gcban

11/4/2012 5:44:00 PM

Thanks for the nice report. I m going to try and get out there next friday if the weather cooperates! Will be down in south area of lake. -G

Bob R

11/4/2012 6:40:00 PM

Nice attempt on the eagle shot, I have spent mass time photographing raptors, you get better with practice! Nice fish and report. Bob R

The Quadfather

11/4/2012 7:42:00 PM

I'm curious if you haven't been fishing the big lake as much in the last 6 months, or if you just haven't reported? I'm thinking you've been distracted to other pursuits, especially the incredible Coho season we had in area 10, which I know you hit hard.
Winter is upon us... it's time to hammer Lake WA. cutts. Thanks for the motivation. That was a beautiful 4 lber. I admit that I didn't fish it once this summer. Everything else is going to sleep (unless your a river salmon guy)

romanfishing

11/4/2012 9:11:00 PM

Thanks for the nice report. Do you ever fish in North part of the lake?

G-Man

11/5/2012 6:26:00 AM

Quad, you are correct, I haven't fished the lake nearly as much this summer and fall due to the great salmon returns we had this year.
Roman - I normally fish the north part of the lake while it is open for coho. As it closed Nov 1st, I'll be focusing on the lake south of 520.

romanfishing

11/5/2012 8:37:00 AM

I have seen a few fish in 30feet water column. Do you think it was coho?

G-Man

11/5/2012 11:09:00 AM

Could be any number of species, the lake is filled with so many different kinds of fish it's had to say. The only time I'm fairly certain what is on the screen is when I'm fishing deep water. Once you get in close to shore, it's impossible to tell without a Fishview device.

smallieslayer

11/5/2012 7:37:00 PM

i live by the lake in renton and have fished it my whole life, i hit it hard for bass this year and did great hooked monsters. i have tried to get trout but i just can't get any luck. if you ever have an open seat i would like to go

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save